Casino Cheats Q & A's: Part 6.

Is it possible to hear when the dealer is dealing ‘seconds’?

Only if he isn’t very good at his trade, the idea that you can hear it when a dealer purposefully deals a second card, because there is an additional click, is just an old wives tale. In reality, the only way to know when a dealer is dealing seconds is to keep an eye on the deck while they are dealing, it is only if you have an exceptional gift in the hearing by echo department (see video below- it’s amazing!) that you would ever be able to ‘hear’ this type of scam. One thing that can give a crooked dealer away is the frequency with which they look at their deck of cards, if a dealer is cheating they have more of an imperative to look at the cards than if they are legitimate dealers.

Do you have to have any special skills to beat the ‘3 Card Monte’ trick?

Yes, you need to be in the known that the trick exists. However, as soon as a con artist notices that someone is about to win on the scam, they pack up shop and move elsewhere so they don’t have to play with that person.....all of a sudden ‘it’s the rozzers!’ or ‘look, good-year blimp’.....and they’re off.

Should I go to a casino when I’m drunk?

No! Although many people that go to casinos will be drunk! Not only are you likely to spend more money than you have, you won’t be on top form to spot a cheat. And, it’s a lot of cashiers, and this goes for any type of establishment, will try to short-change drunken people- it’s happened to me many times when I’ve been in the pub! Oh yeah, and watch out for those people who pretend to be drunk when they’re not! These people know if they feign drunkenness people won’t be watching them as carefully as they normally would, you know “they’re just drunk, whatever!”- If you want to cheat pretend to be trollied.

If people choose to past-post or chip-swap does chip colour matter?

From personal experience, I have to say no. I know someone who used to swap the chips to higher denominations when they know that their bet comes in, and before the dealer knows what is happening. The use to swap chips regardless of the colour and still get away with it, it is all about pulling the scam off with confidence- that is why they are called ‘confidence tricksters’ they evoke trust. Plus, the top chip always remained the same, it was the bottom chips that they changed, people tend to overlook those kinds of subtle differences.

Is it possible for roulette dealers to manipulate the balls?

Yep! However, the question as to whether they can manipulate which number the ball falls on with any degree of accuracy is another matter. There are certain devices that can be used, or the ball or wheel have been tampered with, however a dealer will soon get caught using such techniques as the casinos are well aware of them all.

Is it safe to play at an electronic poker table?

These new games are actually amongst the safest casino games available at the moment. They are not open to such scams as team-play cheats, there are no real-life dealers to worry about and the cheating bots are nowhere near because the machines are not connected to the internet. Of course, it could be possible that people manipulate the software with a series of hacks, but there is no evidence to suggest that is happening, and it is no more risky than playing on a standard slot machine.

If dog and horse racing is fixed, should I still bet on them?

You should still make a bet, after all, you are no more or less in the know than you would be if the races weren’t fixed (we’re not saying that all such races are fixed by the way) and you will be able to bet on the horse/dog that will win, you just don’t know which one it is!

Are professional cheaters careful about cashing chips?

A good casino will be on the lookout for certain types of transaction when people are cashing out, they may know that a scam is happening involving $100 chips, so they will scrutinise every person cashing out that denomination chip carefully. However a good cheat will know that this is what casinos do and will attempt to change up their chips at the table games, saving them from cashing out with that specific denomination chip.

What’s a shoulder-surfer? My friends have told me to watch out for them.

Well, these are sneaky individuals indeed! They hang around ATM machines in casinos hoping to catch you when you’re in the middle of a game and have just run out quickly to get more cash, they will come along after you, hoping that you’ve been negligent and left the card in the machine with the ‘Any more transactions?’ option still open. Of course, it is quite unlikely that you have, but surprisingly many people do when in a casino. Watch out for people at ATM machines who are using props to appear as if they are otherwise engaged, a mobile phone for example.

Never open more than one account at an online casino!

It is becoming increasingly standard across the internet industry to stop paying out to any customers found to have more than one online account with the same casino, regardless of whether it was an accident or not. We would advise you to double check every time you open a new account, because many casinos will happily take your money, knowing that they will not reimburse you if you ever withdraw the cash- they may already know you have another account, they just want  a reason to keep your money. Of course there are costs to them if a person opens two accounts, they may be able to make money from the welcome bonus for example.